PIQUED by the purported arrangement by the national hierarchy of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) to grant automatic tickets to serving senators to return to the upper chamber of the National Assembly, the Kogi West PDP Leadership Forum has warned that local politics is played at the grassroots at home, not in Abuja where certain individuals are waiting to be appointed into elective offices.
The forum, led by Senator Tunde Ogbeha, is not taking the existing principle of rotation for the senatorial seat of the zone lying low as it is bent on ensuring that the arrangement is implemented to the later in the forthcoming elections.
Towards that, the forum, which is also an extension of the Kogi West PDP Stakeholders Forum, has been holding marathon meetings and some shuttle diplomacy within the state for the success and survival of the PDP in the 2015 polls.
A communique issued on November 18, signed by Ogbeha, former Deputy Chief of Staff in the Presidency, Prince Olusola Akanmode, and Third Republic Deputy Governor, Sam Ola Akande, which was read to the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ) in Lokoja, restated the commitment to the institution, pursuit and enthronement of equity, justice and fair play in the zoning and rotation of elective offices in the zone.
It was particular about the senatorial position, which is presently on the front burner in the district’s political discourse. Though there have been no direct confrontation with the incumbent Senator Smart Adeyemi, it is obvious that their schemes are directed at ensuring that he does not return for the third term.
Feelers around the senator’s die-hard followers indicated that he has the backing of President Goodluck Jonathan, who wants him to be the next Senate President. However, that insinuation has also drawn the ire of Senate President David Mark, who has been given the nod to return to the Senate for a fourth term by his Idoma people and possibly to retain the seat for the third consecutive term.
It was gathered that Mark has been clandestinely urging Ogbeha, a close confidant, to ensure that Adeyemi does not constitute a clog in his wheel. That, The Guardian learnt, has been another source of support for the Kogi West coalition, even in monetary terms, against Adeyemi.
However, Ogheha denied the influence of any external force in their course during a press conference.
